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This is the worst investment advice you can get

May 16, 2018

My financial story creates an interesting juxtaposition, as I recently shared with Steve Chen on the NewRetirement Podcast. On one hand, my wife and I did many things well with our money. We achieved financial independence quickly, allowing me to retire last fall at 41 years old.

On the other hand, we made investing mistakes that in retrospect could only be described as pure stupidity.

Want To Double-Check Your Retirement Readiness?

There’s a slew of online calculators available, but one of the best is NewRetirement.com. The site strives to deliver great content and foster an active community…. More…

What to Look for in a Retirement Calculator

Feb 28, 2018

….It is a great calculator for those willing to invest the time or who are looking for more in-depth answers. More…

Computerized Investing’s Best of the Web 2018

Feb 17, 2018

NewRetirement is a website full of tools, articles and news for retirement planning. The website’s sole focus is retirement planning, and, as such, its experience is tailored to provide comprehendible information and guidance. More…

Retirement Planning for Middle-Income Workers

January 26, 2018

Here are some possible business models that can serve the middle-income worker and also possibly address the issues regarding financial institutions and advisers.

My Favorite Blogs: 2017

December 26, 2017

Steve Chen at NewRetirement is passionately devoted to helping people plan for a successful retirement. Not only does he produce a consistently reliable blog, but he also offers an excellent high-fidelity web-based retirement calculator, and various conflict-free routes to getting financial advice, if you need that.

How to Hedge Your Retirement Plan

Retirement planning can be hard. Annuities, estates, health care, retirement calculators, safe withdrawal rates, Social Security, taxes. There are many pieces to a successful retirement plan.

October 24, 2017

But almost all of those topics boil down and feed into the one question that outranks all others: How much money do I need to retire? NewRetirement reports that the median retirement income for households aged 65-74 is more than $47,000. Our own retirement budget is currently closer to their reported median for households aged 55-64: about $63,000 a year. Social Security — even if the politicians shore it up — doesn’t come close to funding that lifestyle.

What I’ve learned after 14 years at the most ‘depressing’ job in America

October 2, 2017

If you’re saving for retirement, it’s always a good idea to get a sense of where you are versus where you want to be. There are many ways to do that. You could ballpark it. You could estimate, for instance, how much of your salary you have set aside or will have set aside when you retire. Or you could calculate what percent of income your assets, including Social Security, will produce in retirement. Shoot for at least 80%.

Or you could also use calculators such as those found at Choose to Save, NewRetirement.com, or MarketWatch. By the way, this is a worthwhile exercise; EBRI studies suggest that those who calculate how much they need saved are more confident about funding their retirement.

5 Ways to Embrace Technology to Manage Your Retirement Money

September 8, 2017

Another powerful and free online tool is NewRetirement. NewRetirement takes your detailed financial information, such as income, expenses, investments and desired retirement age, and funnels it into a comprehensive analysis. The tool helps to project your future spending needs and identifies risks in your overall plan. It determines how much you need to retire and when you might run out of money and provides graphical visualizations to illustrate the numbers and timelines. This tool is less focused on investments and more geared toward people nearing or in retirement who need help seeing the big picture.

How would you handle a forced retirement?

July 31, 2017

In Smith’s testimony she mentioned that she used some calculators to determine if she and her husband would run out of money. The report from the Insured Retirement Institute found that only four in 10 Baby Boomers have tried to calculate how much they need to save to retire, and of these, only six in 10 included estimates of health care costs in their calculations.

12 Of the Best, Dreamiest, and Most Unusual Post-Retirement Jobs

July 27, 2017

Most people picture retirement as a chance to move to the Gulf Coast or Florida, play a few rounds of golf, and spend time with the grandkids. That may sound like heaven to some retirees, but more and more seniors are looking for a little more excitement – and a little extra income – in their golden years. More…

Three Retirement Calcs That Will Help You Hack Your Retirement

July 24, 2017

The Center surveyed several online calculators and identified three and what they do well:

Ask Deep Questions About Anticipated Expenses. NewRetirement. “Brothers Stephen and Tim Chen designed their new calculator with their mother in mind. Perhaps that’s why their questions are so thorough.

The calculator lets users select many of the assumptions that are preset in other calculators, such as how much more pre-retirees anticipate they can save.

On the other hand, estimating monthly medical expenses will require some research – but it’s a crucial cost consideration, and the website offers tips.

Retirement Calculators: 3 Good Options

July 11, 2017

The calculator lets users select many of the assumptions that are preset in other calculators, such as how much more pre-retirees anticipate they can save. On the other hand, estimating monthly medical expenses will require some research – but it’s a crucial cost consideration, and the website offers tips. This calculator will satisfy people who aren’t afraid to train a sharper eye on their retirement prospects. More…

The Best Retirement Calculators [How Much Will You Need to Retire?]

June 26, 2017

#1 NewRetirement’s Retirement Calculator and Planner
No matter the retirement question, this site likely has a calculator to help you find the answer.
The Simple Retirement Calculator by NewRetirement gives you a quick assessment of your current retirement savings, showing you how long your money will last for you and your spouse at a set level of spending in retirement. More…

Meet The 18-Year-Old Who Has Saved Close To $100,000 On Her Own

June 14, 2017

How much do you have in savings? In 2015, the GAO reported that 70% of households in the 55-64 age bracket have less than $100,000 saved. But Robyn Bri, an 18-year old who just graduated from high school in Marin, CA, is on track to beat that average big time. She’s saved over $85,000 by working part-time jobs, starting at age eight. More…

Retirement planning – it can seem overwhelming. It is a little less daunting when your realize that it is just a series of small steps, and that it is always changing. And there are some great tools available on the internet to help you. One of those tools was created by today’s guest. Stephen Chen… More…

Plan Your Retirement the Easy Way With a Website and a Book

May 30, 2017

I don’t always give plugs on competing products like a retirement website but this one offers a real match for the struggling boomer (1946-1964) or seasoned senior (born before 1946) who wants to put his retirement planning to bed and sleep better at the same time. More…

Two Great Online Retirement Calculators

Apr 12, 2017

Last summer, I shared five online retirement calculators that actually provide meaningful results….. Since August, I’ve discovered discovered two more tools that I’m happy to recommend. More…

A baker’s dozen tax optimization strategies for retirement planning

Mar 10, 2017

Tax laws change almost every year as will your outlook for the economy and what actually happened to your investments. More…

Computerized Investing’s Best of the Web 2017

Feb 18, 2017

NewRetirement has a lot of information regarding retirement and offers several calculators and tools. On top of that, its easy-to-understand presentation and helpful guidance make this one of the best retirement planning websites. More…

Retirement Calculator News, and a Mystery Solved…

Feb 14, 2017

Another worthy entry on the high-fidelity retirement calculator scene, that only recently came onto my radar, is NewRetirement – a friendly planning and information platform for prospective retirees. Try this online tool if you’d like an unintimidating walk through your entire retirement scenario. It’s particularly helpful in the areas of retirement income including Social Security and annuities, health care planning including Medicare Supplemental Insurance and Long Term Care Insurance, and follow-on retirement tasks like estate planning. More…

5 Ways to Minimize Required Minimum Distributions

Feb 7, 2017

Required minimum distributions are the government’s way of recovering the tax breaks on the initial contributions to your retirement account and the years of tax-deferred wealth. Over the years, I’ve seen people in their 80s being forced to take distributions exceeding $80,000 or more even though they don’t need the money. More…

Asset Allocation: Mike And The Robos

Dec 28, 2016

My favorite robo-adviser so far is NewRetirement.com. I’ve been working with founder Stephen Chen on this website, and I find it closer to a real adviser than any of the alternatives. Unfortunately, the site doesn’t provide asset allocation recommendations, at least not yet, but it did recommend annual spending of $192,000. I recommend you try out this website. It gets better all the time and I think it’s already as good as the typical human planner. More…

Web’s Best Retirement Income Calculators

Dec 24, 2016

The Accuracy component of the retirement calculator scorecard refers to the reliability of the results being displayed. You need to know a program’s results are trustworthy. You do not want any illusions of grandeur when making final retirement plans. The worst mistake a retiree can make is planning only for the best-case scenario. More…

Got A Raise? Invest It In Your 401K

Dec 6, 2016

Even just putting away $10 or $20 a paycheck will make a difference, and will get you into the habit of saving. In many cases, the default investment options aren’t appropriate. Millennials should save more and invest more aggressively. More…

NewRetirement: A Holistic Approach to Retirement Planning

Aug 20, 2016

NewRetirement helps people figure out how to draw down their savings as well as think through things like Social Security, income, Medicare, work and phased retirement, as well as how to manage debt, expenses and out-of-pocket medical costs in order to live as securely as possible. It includes financial forecasting based on your inputs, some high-level tax modeling and required minimum distributions (RMDs). More…

NewRetirement: A New Approach to Retirement Planning

Jun 27, 2016

Retirement is complex. How much do you need? How long will you live? What is going to happen to Social Security and health care costs? NewRetirement, a website founded in 2005, is helping people answer those questions. I connected with founder Stephen Chen to learn more about how he went from building college admissions software to providing retirement guidance. More…

Computerized Investing’s Best of the Web 2016

Feb 20, 2016

Overall, NewRetirement has a lot of information regarding retirement and offers several calculators and tools. Due to its easy-to-understand presentation and wealth of information, NewRetirement is the Editor’s Choice for Best of the Web in the category of Retirement Planning. More…

NewRetirement & Texas Tech Provide Free Access to Financial Planning

May 14, 2013

NewRetirement today announced that Texas Tech University's Personal Financial Planning Department is among the resources providing free retirement planning knowledge and guidance to consumers at NewRetirement.com. The two organizations share a vision of providing unbiased financial planning and knowledge to all Americans, regardless of their income, amount of assets or level of financial sophistication. More…

NewRetirement's Calculator Uncovers Thousands in Retirement Benefits

April 24, 2013

NewRetirement's calculator goes beyond merely answering, “how much money do I need?” In a few easy steps, it suggests concrete actions that will increase a typical visitor's retirement benefits or income by tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. More…

Retirement information provider and advocate NewRetirement.com has created and released a new reverse mortgage calculator tool for seniors. With the calculator, seniors can determine
whether or not they qualify for reverse mortgages, and if they do qualify, how much home equity they are likely to have available to them immediately. More…

Retirement Planning Website NewRetirement.com Named “Website of the Month” by The CPA Journal

December 22, 2008

The CPA Journal has declared NewRetirement.com their Website of the Month in their annual Financial Planning issue for the excellence of their articles and website structure on topics such as Reverse Mortgages and Mortgage Refinancing. Particular praise was given to the layout and ease of use of NewRetirement.com, as well as to the discussion boards and news digest provided, that answer people’s specific questions about their financial options as they face retirement. More…

Life Insurance Settlements Help Seniors Get Much Needed Cash Out of Unneeded Policies

July 18, 2007

Detailed information about Life Insurance Settlements for seniors is now found on the NewRetirement.com website. Life Insurance Settlements are a recent innovation that let seniors take life insurance policies and turn them into cash. Life settlement brokers can offer more value than the insurance providers, which only offer a cash surrender value. More…

Build the Big Sum You’ll Need

March 15, 2007

Stephen Chen, founder of NewRetirement.com, was interviewed for this CNN Money article about how to save enough for retirement or even to retire early. More…